Demonstratives (abbreviatedDEM) arewords, such asthis andthat, used to indicate which entities are being referred to and to distinguish those entities from others. They are typicallydeictic, their meaning depending on a particularframe of reference, and cannot be understood without context. Demonstratives are often used in spatial deixis (where the speaker or sometimes the listener is to provide context), but also in intra-discourse reference (includingabstract concepts) oranaphora, where the meaning is dependent on something other than the relative physical location of the speaker. An example is whether something is currently being said or was said earlier.
Demonstrative constructions include demonstrativeadjectives or demonstrativedeterminers, which specifynouns (as inPutthat coat on), and demonstrativepronouns, which stand independently (as inPutthat on). The demonstratives inEnglish arethis,that,these,those, and the archaicyon andyonder, along withthis one, these ones,that one andthose ones as substitutes for the pronouns.
Many languages, such asEnglish andStandard Chinese, make a two-way distinction between demonstratives. Typically, one set of demonstratives isproximal, indicating objects close to the speaker (Englishthis), and the other series isdistal, indicating objects further removed from the speaker (Englishthat).
Other languages, likeFinnish,Nandi,Hawaiian,Latin,Spanish,Portuguese,Italian (in some formal writing),Armenian,Serbo-Croatian,Macedonian,Georgian,Basque,Korean,Japanese,Ukrainian,Bengali, andSri Lankan Tamil make a three-way distinction.[1] Typically there is a distinction betweenproximal or first person (objects near to the speaker),medial or second person (objects near to theaddressee), anddistal or third person[2] (objects far from both). So for example, in Portuguese:
Further oppositions are created with place adverbs.
in Italian (medial pronouns, in most of Italy, only survive in historical texts and bureaucratic texts. However, they're of wide and very common usage in some Regions, like Tuscany):
in Hawaiian:
in Armenian (based on the proximal "s", medial "d/t", and distal "n"):
այս
ays
խնձորը
khndzorë
այս խնձորը
ays khndzorë
"this apple"
այդ
ayd
խնձորը
khndzorë
այդ խնձորը
ayd khndzorë
"that apple (near you)"
այն
ayn
խնձորը
khndzorë
այն խնձորը
ayn khndzorë
"yon apple (over there, away from both of us)"
and, in Georgian:
ამისი
amisi
მამა
mama
ამისი მამა
amisi mama
"this one's father"
იმისი
imisi
ცოლი
coli
იმისი ცოლი
imisi coli
"that one's wife"
მაგისი
magisi
სახლი
saxli
მაგისი სახლი
magisi saxli
"that (by you) one's house"
and, in Ukrainian (note that Ukrainian has not only number, but also threegrammatical genders in singular):
and, in Japanese:
この
kono
リンゴ
ringo
この リンゴ
kono ringo
"this apple"
その
sono
リンゴ
ringo
その リンゴ
sono ringo
"that apple"
あの
ano
リンゴ
ringo
あの リンゴ
ano ringo
"that apple (over there)"
In Nandi (Kalenjin of Kenya, Uganda and Eastern Congo):
Chego chu, Chego choo, Chego chuun
"this milk", "that milk" (near the second person) and "that milk" (away from the first and second person, near a third person or even further away).
Ancient Greek has a three-way distinction betweenὅδε (hóde "this here"),οὗτος (hoûtos "this"), andἐκεῖνος (ekeînos "that").
Spanish,Tamil andSeri also make this distinction.French has a two-way distinction, with the use of postpositions "-ci" (proximal) and "-là" (distal) as incet homme-ci andcet homme-là, as well as the pronounsce andcela/ça. English has an archaic but occasionally used three-way distinction ofthis,that, andyonder.
Arabic has also a three-way distinction in its formalClassical andModern Standard varieties. Very rich, with more than 70 variants, the demonstrative pronouns in Arabic principally change depending on the gender and the number. They mark a distinction in number for singular, dual, and plural. For example:
InModern German (and theScandinavian languages), the non-selective deicticdas Kind,der Kleine,die Kleine and the selective onedas Kind,der Kleine,die Kleine are homographs, but they are spoken differently. The non-selective deictics are unstressed whereas the selective ones (demonstratives) are stressed. There is a second selective deictic, namelydieses Kind,dieser Kleine,diese Kleine. Distance either from the speaker or from the addressee is either marked by the opposition between these two deictics or by the addition of a place deictic.
Distance-marking Thing Demonstrative
Thing Demonstrative plus Distance-marking Place Demonstrative
A distal demonstrative exists inGerman, cognate to the Englishyonder, but it is used only in formal registers.[3]
Cognates of "yonder" still exist in some Northern English and Scots dialects;
There are languages which make a four-way distinction, such asNorthern Sami:
These four-way distinctions are often termed proximal,mesioproximal,mesiodistal, and distal.
Many non-European languages make further distinctions; for example, whether the object referred to is uphill or downhill from the speaker, whether the object is visible or not (as inMalagasy), and whether the object can be pointed to as a whole or only in part. TheEskimo–Aleut languages,[4] and theKiranti branch[5] of theSino-Tibetan language family are particularly well known for their many contrasts.
The demonstratives inSeri are compound forms based on the definite articles (themselves derived from verbs) and therefore incorporate the positional information of the articles (standing, sitting, lying, coming, going) in addition to the three-wayspatial distinction. This results in a quite elaborated set of demonstratives.
Latin had several sets of demonstratives, includinghic,haec,hoc ("this near me");iste,ista,istud ("that near you"); andille,illa,illud ("that over there") – note that Latin has not only number, but also threegrammatical genders. The third set of Latin demonstratives (ille, etc.), developed into thedefinite articles in mostRomance languages, such asel,la,los,las inSpanish, andle,la,les inFrench.
With the exception ofRomanian, and some varieties of Spanish and Portuguese, the neuter gender has been lost in the Romance languages. Spanish and Portuguese have kept neuter demonstratives:
| Spanish | Portuguese | gender |
|---|---|---|
| este | este | masculine |
| esta | esta | feminine |
| esto | isto | neuter |
Some forms of Spanish (Caribbean Spanish,Andalusian Spanish, etc.) also occasionally employello, which is an archaic survival of the neuter pronoun from Latinillud.[citation needed]
Neuter demonstratives refer to ideas of indeterminate gender, such as abstractions and groups of heterogeneous objects, and has a limited agreement in Portuguese, for example, "all of that" can be translated as "todo aquele" (m), "toda aquela" (f) or "tudo aquilo" (n) in Portuguese, although the neuter forms require a masculine adjective agreement: "Tudo (n) aquilo (n) está quebrado (m)" (All of that is broken).
Classical Chinese had three main demonstrative pronouns: proximal此 (this), distal彼 (that), and distance-neutral是 (this or that).[6] The frequent use of是 as aresumptive demonstrative pronoun that reasserted thesubject before a nounpredicate caused it to develop into its colloquial use as acopula by theHan period and subsequently its standard use as a copula inModern Standard Chinese.[6] Modern Mandarin has two main demonstratives, proximal這/这 and distal那; its use of the three Classical demonstratives has become mostlyidiomatic,[7] although此 continues to be used with some frequency inmodern written Chinese.Cantonese uses proximal呢 and distal嗰 instead of這 and那, respectively.
Similarly,Northern Wu languages tend to also have a distance-neutral demonstrative搿, which is etymologically a checked-tone derivation of個. In lects such asShanghainese, distance-based demonstratives exist, but are only used constrastively.Suzhounese, on the other hand, has several demonstratives that form a two-way contrast, but also have搿, which is neutral.[8][9]
Hungarian has two spatial demonstratives:ez (this) andaz (that). These inflect for number and case even in attributive position (attributes usually remain uninflected in Hungarian) with possible orthographic changes; e.g.,ezzel (with this),abban (in that). A third degree of deixis is also possible in Hungarian, with the help of theam- prefix:amaz (that there). The use of this, however, is emphatic (when the speaker wishes to emphasize the distance) and not mandatory.
TheCree language has a special demonstrative for "things just gone out of sight," andIlocano, a language of thePhilippines, has three words forthis referring to a visible object, a fourth for things not in view and a fifth for things that no longer exist."[10] TheTiriyó language has a demonstrative for "things audible but non-visible"[11]
While most languages andlanguage families have demonstrative systems, some have systems highly divergent from or more complex than the relatively simple systems employed inIndo-European languages. InYupik languages, notably in theChevak Cup’ik language, there exists a 29-way distinction in demonstratives, with demonstrative indicators distinguished according to placement in a three-dimensional field around the interlocutor(s), as well as by visibility and whether or not the object is in motion.[12][failed verification]
It is relatively common for a language to distinguish betweendemonstrative determiners ordemonstrative adjectives (sometimes also calleddeterminative demonstratives,adjectival demonstratives oradjectival demonstrative pronouns) anddemonstrative pronouns (sometimes calledindependent demonstratives,substantival demonstratives,independent demonstrative pronouns orsubstantival demonstrative pronouns).
A demonstrativedeterminer specifies a noun asdefinite, singular or plural, and proximal or distal:
A demonstrativepronoun stands on its own, replacing rather than modifying a noun:
There are four common demonstrative pronouns in English:this,that,these,those.[13] Some dialects, such asSouthern American English, also useyon andyonder, where the latter is usually employed as a demonstrative determiner.[14] AuthorBill Bryson laments the "losses along the way" ofyon andyonder:[14]
Today we have two demonstrative pronouns,this andthat, but inShakespeare's day there was a third,yon (as in theMilton line "Him that yon soars on golden wing"), which suggested a further distance thanthat. You could talk about this hat, that hat, and yon hat. Today the word survives as a colloquialadjective,yonder, but our speech is fractionally impoverished for its loss.
Many languages have sets ofdemonstrative adverbs that are closely related to the demonstrative pronouns in a language. For example, corresponding to the demonstrative pronounthat are the adverbs such asthen (= "at that time"),there (= "at that place"),thither (= "to that place"),thence (= "from that place"); equivalent adverbs corresponding to the demonstrative pronounthis arenow,here,hither,hence. A similar relationship exists between theinterrogative pronounwhat and theinterrogative adverbswhen,where,whither,whence. Seepro-form for a full table.
As mentioned above, while the primary function of demonstratives is to provide spatial references of concrete objects (that (building),this (table)), there is a secondary function: referring to items of discourse.[15] For example:
In the above,this sentence refers to the sentence being spoken, and the pronounthis refers to what is about to be spoken;that way refers to "the previously mentioned way", and the pronounthat refers to the content of the previous statement. These are abstract entities of discourse, not concrete objects. Each language may have subtly different rules on how to use demonstratives to refer to things previously spoken, currently being spoken, or about to be spoken. In English,that (or occasionallythose) refers to something previously spoken, whilethis (or occasionallythese) refers to something about to be spoken (or, occasionally, something being simultaneously spoken).[citation needed]
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